After 10 years, Ari Lennox and J. Cole’s Dreamville Records are parting ways. TMZ is reporting that the 34-year-old singer is now signed exclusively to Interscope Records.
Ari’s new single, “Soft Girl Era,” an upbeat, bouncy track, doesn’t list Dreamville in the credits.
The split is reportedly amicable. Earlier this month at the Dreamville Festival, the singer shouted out J. Cole during her curtain call saying, “Thank you for making my dreams a reality,” according to HotNewHipHop.
Their relationship has been fraught with some clashes over marketing and other support. Last year, Ari wrote on Instagram, “I want out of my contract.”
The “Shea Butter Baby” singer aired numerous grievances, including the release of a video she hadn’t approved and a lack of advertising, according to Complex.
“I’m saying very clearly I’m not comfortable with it being out for multiple reasons,” she wrote, and tagged both Interscope and Dreamville in the post, adding: “I just wish I had a label that cared, that would want to protect me. I wish I had a label that wouldn’t have me out here trying to explain that I need advertisement.”
“I just wanna be released, it’s that simple.”
In March, Solange’s Saint Heron shared that the Web Design and Creative Direction of AriLennox.com was being managed by the company.
Fans on social media have strong opinions about the announcement. On X (formerly Twitter) one fan wrote, “#Dreamville tried to do with Ari Lennox what #TDE did with SZA…and it failed miserably.”
While another fan wrote, “Ari Lennox fans blame every else but her.”
Ari Lennox signed to Dreamville in 2015 and released her first major label debut EP, Pho, in 2016. Her first studio album, Shea Butter Baby was released in 2019. The album spawned the singles “Whipped Cream” and the title track. The Associated Press rated it the No. 1 album of 2019.
She also released another EP, Away Message, in August 2022 and her second album, Age/Sex/Location, the following month.
A release date for a new album has not been announced.
